13. HOW FIELDS AND PORTALS WORK
1. MAKING A SEARCH PORTAL WORK
There are two occurrences portals in the OVERVIEW layout.
Fig. 13.1 [Fig. 2.2] Analysis of the OVERVIEW layout in the databases
Say the record being looked at is ‘kangaroo’ in the ALLSYD database. The EngJSM Occurrences portal on the right in Fig. 13.1 will show all the instances of ‘kangaroo’ in the database (there are about 100). The NoH Occurrences portal on the left at the same time shows all the different words used for kangaroo in the database (there are about a dozen).
The ‘kangaroo’ search also brings up ‘rat kangaroo’.
One of the records appearing in the occurrences portals is:
"kao-wālgōŋ" gawal-gang "kangaroo (old man)" kangaroo [big]-agent KAOL Rowley GeoR [:104:6] [DG] [NSW]
Say the User would like to know what gawal might mean. Without leaving the screen the User types gawal into the NoH searcher tag field, with this result:
Fig. 13.2 On a search for gawal, all instances in the database appear, with the scroll bar on the right indicating there are more than are shown
Noticing ‘old’ in the yellow EngJSM column, the User might decide to do a search in the EngJSM search portal on the same screen, with this result:
Fig. 13.3 The top result reveals gawal as one of the words in use for ‘old’
There are additional search portals on the OVERVIEW screen in which the Australian word, or the respelt word, can be entered into the appropriate Searcher Aus and Searcher ReS tag fields.
How is this achieved? In 'Layout' mode (⌘L) the OVERVIEW screen displays the following:
Fig. 13.4 Searcher JSM portal for the ALLSYD database in 'Layout' mode
This on its own does not explain how the search portals are made to work. What follows is a description that would only need to be looked at if the User were trying to set up a search portal him/herself.
2. TECHNICAL DIGRESSION
To make various fields work it is necessary to establish the structural links in the database. Below is a fragment from the VICTORIA database in which some fields have been set up but many have not been, and are indicated as ‘table missing’. What follows is an explanation of how to create the necessary links, thereby replacing ‘table missing’ with the intended results.
Fig. 13.5 Fields showing ‘Table missing’ in the VICTORIA database in 'Browse' mode
BIG GREY BOX AT THE TOP
The grey box at the top is the ‘common glyphs 2’ field, intended to display some lines or symbols that can be used in ‘Comments’ notes and so save repetitive typing. It is just a repository or ‘character bank’. The lines and symbols that will eventually appear there when set up are drawn from a subsidiary related database called Mac cht sets (‘cht’ = ‘character’).
For it to operate, its underlying structure must be established. Here is how. First open up the database operating diagram (⇧⌘D)
Fig. 13.6 File>Manage>Database (or ⌘D) shows the structure: Mac cht sets is displayed
In Fig. 13.6, the 2nd element on the upper right, light blue, is the element concerned, and its link box is displayed, opened when clicking on the mini-box highlighted and blue-arrowed in the 2nd connecting line. This related element link, represented by the light-blue mini-box, was set up (as were all the others in the illustration, by clicking on the first icon just above the ‘Print’ button at the bottom.
The next step, having set up the structure by matching the required field in the VICTORIA database (title greyed out and red-arrowed on the left) to the required field in the Mac cht sets database (field greyed out and red-arrowed on the right), is to complete the link, with 8 repetitions. First close the operating ‘Edit Relationship’ diagram by clicking OK. Then, in 'Layout' mode, with the ‘common glyphs 2’ field shown in Fig. 13.7 below occupying only a single line—or if it is bigger, collapse using the ‘handles’ (the tiny corner boxes) to shrink it to look like as it does below:
Fig. 13.7 Common glyphs 2 field (shown as ‘Table missing’ at the top of Fig. 13.5) reduced to a single line
In the grey ‘Inspector’ panel on the right, notice at the bottom: ‘Show repetitions’. Change this to 1 to 8. If the ‘common glyphs 2’ field is selected, this results in the following:
Fig. 13.8 Result of changing the number of repetitions of the field to 1 to 8
Then, in 'Browse' mode, the result is:
Fig. 13.9 The result in 'Browse' mode, showing 8 lines, and the desired information
The top three lines are for copying, for use in the Comments field if desired. The bottom five lines are a store of symbols available for use in Transcription indicators.
MAKING LINKS IN THE OCCURRENCES PORTALS
The next set of links to establish are those in the occurrences portals (illustrated below in 'Browse' mode), with the object of making the ‘Table missing’ columns operational and so providing in them the information this occurrences portal should be displaying.
Fig. 13.10 EngJSM Occurrences portal for the word ‘black’ (see yellow column), with only 6 out of the 36 columns operational
It is a repetitive process to establish the links but this is how it is done. First go to the 'Layout' mode, ⌘L, to view the structure of this portal.
Fig. 13.11 Top of the EngJSM Occurrences portal in 'Layout' mode, with blank boxes for the as yet unlinked fields
The first field with blank information is the light brown ‘respelt’ field, the fifth from the left. Double-click on it.
Fig. 13.12 EngJSM Occurrences portal: respelt field, clicked, and ‘respelt’ selected in the box
Select ‘respelt’ in the box that appears, then click OK. This establishes the link. Do the same with all the other unlinked fields in the portal.
The result afterwards, with all the fields successfully linked:
Fig. 13.13 EngJSM Occurrences portal: all fields linked
The repetitive procedure of linking the fields gives the User the opportunity to make incidental adjustments, such as labelling the columns and removing unnecessary fields.
MAKING LINKS IN THE SEARCH PORTALS
There are still two search portals to be done, as shown in the lower part of the illustration below (in 'Layout' mode still). These are the Australian and respelt search portals.
There is, however, a slightly simplifying option, saving the necessity of hunting for the field to link each time.
Fig. 13.14 Completed NoH Occurrences portal, with below the as yet unidentified Australian and Respelt search portals, each awaiting the linking of the fields within them
A manoeuvre that greatly simplifies the repetitive linking process consists of copying and duplicating as a group the fields in the top ‘NoH’ portal and pasting them into the two searcher portals, as shown below:
Fig. 13.15 Copying the fields from one completed portal into portals awaiting linking
Having done this, it is still necessary to complete the correct linking for the new portal. However, instead of searching for and linking a field each time, all that needs to be done is to change the operating table:
Fig. 13.16 Tables available for selecting on clicking on a field
Clicking on a field in one of the search portals to be changed brings up a table list. All that has to be done is move, say, from the VICTORIA NoH table to the one two places below it, VICTORIA Searcher Aust, and do this for every field in the VICTORIA Searcher Aust table.
And so likewise for the next portal, VICTORIA Searcher ReS, changing from the copied ‘VICTORIA NoH’ fields to ‘VICTORIA Searcher ReS’ fields by changing the selected table from VICTORIA NoH to five tables lower, VICTORIA Searcher ReS. (All this will only begin to make any sense to the User when confronted with the need to carry out this operation. It will be found to be significantly simpler and quicker than establishing the links in the first place.)
If it is done correctly, something like the following will result:
Fig. 13.17 VICTORIA NoH portal and the two SEARCHER portals below it, Aust and Res, for the word badan ‘path’, with Pardin entered into the SEARCHER AUST tag field, and badan into the Victoria SEARCHER tag field
SUMMARY LINES: HOW THEY WORK
Summary lines were described in 8. Information Group. A summary line is created by the key combination ⌘3, which places it in the pale blue ‘word-for-word JS’ field. Then the key combination ⌘1 moves it to the green ‘meaning clue’ field. This, ⌘3, was used to create the following summary line for the word Pattadiou in the ALLSYD database:
"Pattadiou" bada-dya-wu "I eat or have eat [eaten]" eat did I Anon (c) [c:19:10] [BB]
But how does this happen? It is the result of coding in a Filemaker Pro ‘calculation’ field, the field in question being called ‘summary’. The programming is the following:
Fig. 13.18 Programming for the ‘summary’ calculation field
This is more understandable if presented as follows:
Fig. 13.19 Programming separated into separate lines for visual reasons only: NOT TO BE DONE in the actual program
Note: Char(9) = tab
The programming in Fig. 13.18 instructs various fields to be enclosed within quotation marks, to be followed by tabs, hyphens and brackets added and the like. This programming instruction, the moment it is called upon by the key combination ⌘3, automatically generates a summary line for the record concerned, placing it in the 'word for word JS' field. It then only has to be called upon by the key combination ⌘1.
SCRIPTS
The Filemaker Pro application has the capacity for operating ‘scripts’, and a number have been set up for the Bayala databases.
Fig. 13.20 Scripts established for the ALLSYD database
The script for the key combination ⌘3, which moves the instantly generated summary line to the ‘word for word JS’ field, is the third in the list in Fig. 13.20, highlighted. The following is the text of the script concerned:
Fig. 13.21 Script to move summary line from the ‘summary’ field to ‘word for word JS’ field
The User should note that the ‘summary’ field needs to be somewhere, anywhere, on the layout in order for the script to work for that layout.
Fig. 13.22 Fields specified in the ‘summary’ calculation that must be present on any layout, together with the summary field, for the summary line to work for that layout
Sequential movement of any automatically generated summary line to the destination fields, using the key combination ⌘3, ⌘1, is shown below:
Fig. 13.22 Progression of a summary line in three numbered stages